Help! Rocky was just hospitalized for 4 days :(

[RockyCody]

Hi everyone, it has been a long time since we were on BW. Rocky has now become sick and I'm looking for any/all advice regarding what is going on. To make a long story short, he was refusing food and vomiting this past Saturday. We took him to our vet for cerenia and fluids which usually does the trick. Well this time it didn't and we got home Saturday night to a panting, drooling, shaking dog who was super uncomfortable and I took him in asap.

At the ER vet they kept him on IV fluids and did tons of tests. Ultimately he ended up have a scope done this past Tuesday and biopsy results finally in showing inflammatory bowel disease in his duodenum (hence all his episodes of vomiting/not wanting to eat over the years). It also was suggestive of food allergies but they couldn't tell me what exactly.

So for those who deal with IBD in your dogs....help. I feel so overwhelmed and lost right now. His current medication regimen is as follows:
Cerenia once per day for another 3 days.
Sucralfate every 8 hours as a slurry for another 4-5 days.
Metronidazole 2x/day for 2 weeks
Pepcid 30mg 2x/day likely for life.

Now today I am to pick up prednisone and azathioprine and start those.

I feel like it's a ton of meds!!!! He also is on the Hills I/D canned food 2 cans/day which is definitely not enough for my 80# boy( probably 70-75 after not eating most of this past week). Anyway, no clue what diet to do for him either as they are recommending we stick with hills I/d for now.

Just overwhelmed and confused. Sorry for long post but hopefully someone has been down this road before and can help!

 

[Holden's Mom]

So sorry Rocky is not feeling up to par. I can't help with dogs with IBD, but have experienced this with a cat. Lewis was given steroid shots to deal with the disorder, and it helped. However, it would still com and go. After dealing with the disorder for a couple of years, Lewis became very ill and was diagnosed with an enlarged heart. He was given Lasix daily to remove the fluids around the heart, so I worried about very real dehydration when an IBD episode might occur. He never had another IBD episode again, and I attribute that to a change in his diet. The cardiologist had put him on Science Diet KD and Wathams canned food for cats with kidney disease. Apparently he was allergic to something in the food I had been feeding him before the heart disease.

You can have Rocky tested for food allergies. I did that with our late boxer Autry, and he had allergies to many meats and a few grains. His allergies showed up in the form of chewing his feet. Dietary changes helped.

Pam and Doug

 

[Roge]

Such a worry , fingers crossed all goes well !!

 

[Gatorblu]

How scary for you and Rocky! I agree with Holden's Mom. I think you should have Rocky tested for allergies. Otherwise it is a tedious process of trial ad error. Considering what he has already been through I would go for the testing. I hope Rocky is feeling better soon!